"It is surely harmful to souls to make it a heresy to believe what is proved" - Galileo

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Narra burns down, Hillary wins and a PDI editorial

Narra burns

Narra Residence Hall burned down hours after UP kicked-off its centennial celebrations. Narra is one of the earliest dorms on the Diliman campus.

With the conflagration Narra has now passed into campus legend. Since I lived so close to campus, I never needed to stay in a dorm (until I spent some time at UP Visayas and at James Cook University in Australia). However I have many friends who lived in Narra. The tales they told me were funny like there was a time a large python slept on a dormer's bed. The dormer returned drunk one night and never found out that he was sharing his bed with a snake! Also tales abounded about the Narra showers!

Perhaps it was Narra's liberal policies that made the dorm's character. It is said that residents can bring women into their rooms (a no no in any dorm!). When my sister was an undergrad she made a TV production about campus living and she went to a friend's Narra room without anyone batting an eyelash. She was to tape a segment of the show about Narra dorm life.

The female counterpart to Narra is supposed to be Kamia.

Of course the Narra has hosted men who later became the nation's leaders. Senator Villar and Angara are examples.

Even if Narra rises like a phoenix from the ashes (Which it will undoubtly happen). It won't be the same.

Hillary wins in New Hampshire

It seems that women have decided to cast their lot for Hillary Clinton thus pouring water (tear drops!) on a predicted Barack Obama election firestorm.

Pundits say that her show of emotion got the primary vote. The Toronto Star says that the pollsters missed the hidden women's vote surge.

Old habits die hard. Women still get ignored in the great US of A!

PDI in editorial knots

Today's Philippine Daily Inquirer entitled "Priests in Politics" again shows argumentative knots. It says that "Priests entering politics under less than extraordinary circumstances crowd laypersons out of the public square, or even force them to neglect their civic duty"

The PDI misses the point. Priests, Bishops, Executive Ministers and all sorts of "brothers" need not run for office. These people have crowded out laypersons and even force them to neglect their civic duty. Why? The most numerous church has always imposed its views on contraception and divorce. One church compels it members to vote as a block and so prostitutes the electoral process that is based on the free expression of one's conscience.The Inquirer would have shown moral courage by saying that religion in this country should be completely disestablished.

Father Ed Panlilio would have given this country a good example if he resigned his Holy Orders.